David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 8

With the NBA free agency period and the offseason long underway, the Golden State Warriors are the one team in the league that has yet to make any roster additions via free agency or trade. The lone move involving the Warriors so far has been Kevon Looney’s departure to the New Orleans Pelicans in free […]

The No. 1 headliner at NBA Summer League this year has been the top overall pick in Dallas Mavericks rookie forward Cooper Flagg. After shaking off a so-so summer league debut by his standards, Cooper Flagg bounced back in his second summer league game for the Mavericks, including a nifty and-one that looked like shades of […]

The Las Vegas Aces came into their Saturday matchup against the Golden State Valkyries needing a win to keep pace in the WNBA standings. They got the win, 104-102, and Aces star A’ja Wilson reached a WNBA milestone in scoring in the process. The WNBA milestone that A’ja Wilson reached was moving into the top […]

Dallas Mavericks No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg has been generating headlines for his early play at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, but while he was there, he found out a little bit of important information regarding a popular video game. During a meeting with Ronnie 2K of NBA 2K fame, Cooper Flagg found […]

Friday was only the second day of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, but there were already a few highlight worthy plays including a smooth windmill dunk from Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls. The highlight reel plays continued at summer league with Washington Wizards rookie point guard Tre Johnson trying to get his own […]

Over the past couple of seasons, the Chicago Bulls have been a team that can’t quite seem to pick a direction in terms of whether they want to tank or make the playoffs. They’ve been a team stuck in the play-in. But the Bulls have some intriguing young players on the team such as Matas […]

One of the biggest storylines surrounding the 2025 NBA Draft was the rise of former Duke commit Cedric Coward into a lottery pick. Coward was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Before the draft though, Coward had committed to […]

The Atlanta Dream had a big game against the Indiana Fever on Friday, and they got a bit of a scare before halftime. Early in the second quarter of the Dream’s game against the Fever, All-Star guard Rhyne Howard was carried off the court and to the locker room following an apparent injury. However, Howard […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have had success in recent seasons signing undrafted players to two-way contracts and  developing them into solid NBA rotation players. Two of the team’s most notable undrafted two-way players are Austin Reaves and Alex Caruso. Caruso has become a championship role player while Reaves is on the verge of borderline All-Star […]

LOS ANGELES – One team’s loss is another team’s gain, and that certainly was the case for the Los Angeles Sparks this past week. Following the Golden State Valkyries’ controversial release of Julie Vanloo, the Sparks immediately jumped in, signing the Belgian guard to a contract for the rest of the season. The Sparks initially […]

The Atlanta Hawks have had a busy offseason so far, with one of their biggest moves being the trade with the Boston Celtics to bring in Kristaps Porzingis. The Hawks also had a couple of impact free agency moves with the signings of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard. The Hawks latest roster move came on […]

The Los Angeles Lakers will take the court for their opening game in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League on Thursday in a hyped-up matchup against No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks. The team finished 2-1 at the California Classic this past week, and as the Lakers summer league entry prepares for […]

The Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to waive Damian Lillard sent shockwaves through the NBA world. The Bucks then followed that up with an equally shocking free agency move to agree to terms with longtime Indiana Pacer big man Myles Turner. The Bucks were able to use their newly acquired cap space from waiving Lillard to agree […]

The opening of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas was set to start with a bang with a highly anticipated matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. The game was being billed as a matchup between Bronny James and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. And as soon as the game began, Bronny James […]

The New Orleans Pelicans ensured that one of their top players remains in a Pelicans jersey for the next several years after coming to an agreement on a contract extension with Herb Jones during the onset of NBA Summer League. Herb Jones’ contract extension with the Pelicans is for three years and worth around $68 […]

It’s been a busy offseason for the San Antonio Spurs so far, beginning with the NBA Draft. The Spurs added a potential franchise cornerstone in Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick. They fortified their frontcourt with the free agent signing of Luke Kornet and the trade for Kelly Olynyk. And now the Spurs […]

The Las Vegas Aces are coming into their matchup against the Washington Mystics on Thursday unsure if they will have star player A’ja Wilson available. Wilson left the Aces’ loss to the Liberty on Tuesday due to injury and is considered questionable for the Mystics game. But even if Wilson does not play, the Aces […]

Amid a disappointing regular season so far, the Las Vegas Aces suffered a major blow when franchise star A’ja Wilson left the team’s 87-78 loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday early due to a wrist injury. Wilson did not leave the game immediately after suffering the injury in an effort to help her […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have spent most of the free agency period so far with re-signing some of their own free agents. One of the 76ers’ most recent signings was to bring back veteran point guard Kyle Lowry. The 76ers have added a couple of new players to their roster, however, including a few on two-way […]

LOS ANGELES – When Dorian Finney-Smith opted to leave the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, the team suddenly found themselves with more at their disposal in terms of free agency money. At the onset of the free agency negotiation period, the Lakers quickly came to terms with Jake LaRavia, one of the more intriguing […]

The Milwaukee Bucks’ offseason got off to a surprising start when it was announced that the team would waive and stretch Damian Lillard’s contract. That wasn’t the only shocker for the Bucks as they then turned around and agreed to terms in free agency with division rival Myles Turner with the cap space they acquired […]

When the 2025-26 NCAA season begins, the Iowa Hawkeyes will have a new face at the helm with the hiring of Ben McCollum as head coach. McCollum made sure to tamper expectations for the upcoming season amid a roster overhaul with ten players leaving via the transfer portal. But Iowa will have an unexpected reinforcement […]

To say the Houston Rockets had a strong offseason is a major understatement. The Rockets transformed themselves into a legitimate contender with the trade for Kevin Durant. Not only that, but the Rockets had a strong NBA free agency period as well with the signing of Dorian Finney-Smith as well as bringing back veterans Aaron […]

The Phoenix Mercury are coming off a 98-89 loss to the Dallas Wings, a game in which Satou Sabally was booed by the fans upon her return to Dallas for the first time as an opponent. The Mercury will get another crack at the Wings on Monday, this time on their home court. But Satou […]

NBA Summer League is a time for newly drafted players to showcase their talents, as well as the rookies of yesteryear to show what they’ve been working on in the offseason. There’s also room for highlight reel plays. During the Miami Heat’s summer league game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Kel’el Ware threw […]

LOS ANGELES – When the Los Angeles Lakers begin NBA Summer League at the California Classic on Saturday, team roster will have a couple of familiar faces in Bronny James and Dalton Knecht. Both James and Knecht played in summer league last season, and with a year of NBA experience under their belts, this time […]

The 2024-25 season was a whirlwind of newness for the USC Trojans. Eric Musselman took over in his first season as head coach, and the roster was essentially put together on the fly with only one returner amid a big group of transfers. This season, there are a couple more returners alongside the incoming transfers […]

In less than two weeks after the Florida Gators won the national championship, they lost a player who was expected to play a major role for the 2025-26 season. Denzel Aberdeen, a key backup guard for Florida during their title run, opted to hit the transfer portal and commit to Kentucky. There wasn’t much known […]

The Denver Nuggets have been lauded so far by fans and media alike for having a very strong offseason. Depth was one of the team’s biggest issues, but they addressed that in a major way, adding key veterans such as Bruce Brown, Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas. While the Valanciunas situation is […]

The NBA free agency period is nearing the end of its first week, with players and teams finally able to officially sign contracts on Sunday, July 6. There are still a few big names available on the free agency market, with one of them being Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga whose name […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more quiet teams during the NBA free agency period so far. In fact, they actually lost a key contributor in Guerschon Yabusele who agreed to sign with the New York Knicks. The 76ers have brought back a couple of veteran guards with Kelly Oubre Jr. picking up […]

The Houston Rockets shook up the NBA world with arguably the biggest move of the offseason when they agreed to trade for Kevin Durant. While the complete framework of the trade is reportedly still being worked on, there’s no question the Rockets improved. The Rockets continued to add to the roster this week with an […]

The Los Angeles Sparks made a series of roster moves this week, with the waiving of veteran guard Odyssey Sims drawing the ire of fans on social media. Not only did the Sparks cut Sims, but they cut Shey Peddy as well, leaving them with 11 players and one open roster spot. The Sparks plans […]

The Los Angeles Lakers came into the 2025 offseason looking to bolster their frontcourt rotation. A day after agreeing to terms with free agent big man Deandre Ayton, it appears as if the Lakers have their backup center. The Lakers have agreed to re-sign veteran center Jaxson Hayes via a one-year contract in free agency, […]

LOS ANGELES – At this time last season, Bronny James was preparing for his first-ever NBA reps in summer league with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fresh off being drafted with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, not only did he have to prepare for the rigors of being a rookie, but […]

Following the conclusion of the NBA Draft last week, there are now two Reese siblings playing professional basketball. Angel Reese is a budding star with the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, while her brother Julian was a free agent signing with the Los Angeles Lakers after going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft. Obviously Angel […]

The Alabama Crimson Tide and head coach Nate Oats received big news last week when it was announced that Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was granted a medical redshirt by the NCAA and would be given one more year of college basketball eligibility for next season following an Achilles injury. The question now becomes, when will Wrightsell […]

The Indiana Fever are coming off a Commissioner’s Cup championship win against the Minnesota Lynx, and they did so without star guard Caitlin Clark who was sidelined due to injury. Even with the win, the Fever are going to need Clark in the lineup to pose a serious threat the rest of the season. With […]

When the Los Angeles Lakers allowed Dorian Finney-Smith to walk in free agency after he opted out of his contract, they suddenly found themselves with the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal. That gave them around $14 million to spend, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as a surprise free agent […]